This was my worst swim of the year. I've had a few small but annoying health issues and waning motivation here at the end of the season. So, I went into it out of shape and over weight. It was the first race all year that I passed only about 1 person. I was passed by two or three. Some guy passed me with 100 m to go only to not go ANY faster. So I walked a portion as he was completely in the way.

Keep in shape!

It took me a bit to get into my shoes. The road was wet and it was raining so I was a bit tentative on reaching down to tighten up my shoe straps. I did it, but it wasn't as smooth or efficient as I would have liked.

The first few miles of the bike were miserable. It took me until about 3 miles in get the feel for the extra weight/resistance of the water on the tires and wheels.

nada - it turned out to be a decent bike after I got my second wind and adjusted to the extra resistance.

I thought it was a 12 mile bike so I wasn't prepared when then dismount 'jumped up in front of me.' I didn't coast in on top of my shoes and do a flying dismount. It was the first time since my first tri last year that I walked into transition with my bike shoes on my feet.

Read the tri description of how long the bike distance was ;-)

It was down to a light rain at this point. It wasn't too bad and for anyone who's run in these conditions you know that it can be pleasant as it helps keep you cool. I don't feel like it helped or hindered me in any way at this point.

I did take a wrong turn once on the run course and got corrected quickly by a volunteer. It didn't add but 10 seconds to my time.

besides the one mishap of taking a wrong turn it went fairly well. I finished the race strong at about a 9:30 pace on my last mile, which for me is pretty good.

walk and take pictures with friends and family


THE RAIN and being out of shape at the end of the season


I did this race last year where it went smoothly so I don’t want to cast too many stones since the weather played a HUGE role in how this race went.
1) The race had a lot of great volunteers. They were real troopers to stick it out like they did in the rain.
2) The location is great. Fairfield is a nice subdivision with beautiful man-made ponds and lots of shaded sidewalks. The fitness center is a good location with a heated outdoor pool.
3) There were a lot of sponsors and donors for prizes.
4) The RD while a very nice person needs to delegate. The post-race awards and drawings took FOREVER. They were very disorganized. It seemed everything had to go through the RD for decision making and it created a lot of delays.
5) The race itself should have been cancelled. Most of the volunteers told the RD so. Allegedly the USAT official said as much. But the RD pressed on. A lot of people left without racing. Probably about 60% of the original participants raced. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in terms of whether they get the same sponsors and volunteers next year.